Emi, ¨Mi Emi¨, today she earned two excellency medals at school for last year´s accomplishments both in English subjects and Spanish. And this , wow this is such a happy and proud moment for her, which in turn makes me so happy and filled with pure and simple joy. I am happy not because she earned a medal or two, am just over the moon happy because she did it, she put her mind, body, and life into achieving excellency last school year, and she did it knowingly and it was with a lot of effort that she tried to be good at school,and at home the best daughter she could be, the very best sister and the best friend any girl could want. There were nights when I was tucking them in bed that she told me that she was tired of being ¨good, of trying hard to do things as good as she could¨, and I would tell her that she was already perfect, that grades or honors would not change how much we love her... but still she said she wanted to do her best, that she wanted to do whatever she did the best that she could, including helping me at home with Ari, and whatever it is that I need help with. Emi is my third hand, she is always there with her big smile, just happy to be there. She is the most patient girl I know, and for that, to me, she just earned medals for life!

Ale didn´t get any medals this year, even though she deserved them, but as I always tell them life is not always fair.... so you just have to be happy with what you do and with what you are not to impress anyone, or to get noticed, or to get rewarded, you just have to do your best to feel your best, and feeling proud of yourself is the best reward you can get! So Ale, congrats to you too, for being the happiest girl I know, for being the sunshine in my life, for seeing the beauty and the fun in everything you do!

and of course, then we have this little rebel... she won the medals of our hearts!

This afternoon we were back in the car... Ale, Emi, Ari and me.... Monday afternoons are very numbing... Emi gets ready for Flamenco, I get Ari ready for the ride or as I call it our ¨city tour¨, and Ale is at gymnastics... waiting for me to pick her up.... Caracas is pretty chaotic, there is always traffic, and if you are a mom you know that for whatever reason we are always running late.... today was no exception! Ari starts to cry, Emi wanted a special hairdo, which I have come to realize that is faster to grab a brush and do it than to talk her out of it ... so of we go. As crazy as this city is we have to handle it and live with it.... So we drop Emi off and Ari falls asleep, which means a much appreciated quite time for me, but that is over once we pick ale up at her gymnastics classes... she starts talking like crazy, (something that she has not lost yet in her tween years), so we cross Caracas again and because here everything is so difficult there is almost nothing as picking your child up from anywhere easily, at flamenco we have to park the car... which is soooooo hard, get everybody out of the car, get in a elevator full of people, it´s hot, we get Emi, then everyone wants and afternoon treat, which I always try to give them... I mean, why not have a pan dulce or an ice cream?? is so easy for them being happy! Back in the car, more traffic and now everybody is tired and bickering, but then suddenly a good song on the radio (Bailando by Enrique Iglesias) , and by the time we get home we are rewarded with this sunset.... and guess what... life is good, and fun, and kind to us! Thank you for today dear God, really thank you!

Today was dentist day for Ale and me, we don´t say it out loud but we really look forward to this monthly visit.... I guess it´s because is about the only alone time that we get lately, plus Ale is so excited about having a pretty smile that she doesn´t mind the torture! Today was a bit different since we took Thelma with us! and from now on Thelma will join us once a month on our big girls getaway afternoon, where we talk, dance to the music in the car, and have some pan dulce before getting home! Thelma is my oldest niece from my side of the family (its six cousins on my side and 17 on Gabriel´s side), My sister Lilena and I were pregnant at the same time both with Ale and Thelma, and with our middle children, Emi and Mercedes. Being pregnant together was fun, she has always joked that I just couldn´t resist the temptation and had to copy her (which is true but will never tell her that!)! but even better than sharing our bumps, has been raising our families together! Our husbands sometimes don´t get why we have to speak so many times during the day, or why since so early.... haha, but they have come to understand that this is a joint effort, we are our own little tribe!Lilena works, this is great because it has given me the chance to share even more with my nieces, since they were little I have taken them to swimming lessons, tennis, ballet, parties and now once a month to the dentist! Even better, aside from being cousins, they share the same school, the same grade, the same classrooms, which means same friends and parties.... so basically, these four are more than cousins, more than friends.... they are pretty much sisters! Isn´t this something to be grateful everyday?I started with the dentist, passed to my sister, and ended up talking about cousins... that´s life I guess! So here I live you with some pictures of the girls (las niñitas) over the years!

The moment of truth has arrived, the girls are off to school, including my itsy bitsy student, which means that I have to go out and start doing it! I am not one of those super fit moms, I run 5k three times a week as a race against myself and my super trainer ¨nike running¨, I do it to try to stay fit and healthy, I do it because I am raising three girls, the smallest one just over a year and I am right in the middle of my forties so I have to beat time, I do it because of this sibling competition which we ¨secretly¨ love. So as you can see, it is really a victory every time I put on my running shoes!

Last night was one of those nights... Ari woke up around midnight and I couldn´t get her to back to sleep until 4:30 am. I tried everything, I let her cry a little like I usually do and she falls back at sleep on her own... didn´t work, so I went to her room to check on her, changed her diaper and rocked her, sang to her, nothing... took her to my room... nothing, went back to her room put her in her crib and nothing. This almost never happens, but when it does, and before I loose my patience completely, I think about the moms out there that are having a sleepless night, but not because of a crying baby, but because their baby or child is sick... or worse, and that is when I get full of patience and thank God for the blessing of being there with a crying but healthy baby, and I pray for them... I really pray with all my might for those children and their moms, and I thank God for my sleepless but so simple night....And because sleepless nights take me back to when the girls where newborns.... here is a picture of Ari, just 19 months ago...

Today was Ari´s first day at ¨school¨, it is this cute, little amazing school for children from 1 to 4 years old, only in the mornings, they come here to start socializing, learning the basics, and I think to give moms a little air!So here I am, happy as can be, but also trying to soak up every little bit of babyhood without being over sentimental! Today we all woke up early, Ale and Emi had their outfits ready so there wouldn´t be any fuzz today choosing the ¨right one¨for the occasion. I thought I wasn´t nervous until I found myself staring at the closet deciding what to wear... after all, I wanted to make a good first impression for Ari! Here is our school girl all ready in her brand new uniform and backpack (full of diapers)!

"People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child -- our own two eyes. All is a miracle." -Thích Nhất Hạnh. This I quote today from the Facebook page of my cousin, she is studying medicine, and is backpacking in Europe. She is one of those free souls full of love, beauty and peace... one of those persons that you will surely change your life if you have her near you.Life is a miracle, just waking up and being here is a miracle... so today be you, take a moment to breath in and thank God for you life!Here is a picture of my beloved Avila, the mountain that we wake up to here in Caracas, our feeling of protection, our North! The one thing we proudly call ours....

Coming home from a long vacation is always bittersweet, a part of me wants to stay in vacation-no-problem-land, and the other wants to go home to our usual schedules and routine which also makes life easier and predictable. The thing is that here in Venezuela nothing is simple, or easy or routine like now a days. But even though pessimism tries to kick in, I keep trying to remind myself that to see a rainbow, you have to endure the rain.... So suitcases unpacked, house clean, and 2 weeks away from the beginning of school, I am starting to see my own little rainbow through the eyes of my girls! And again I am trying to remember what I have always told myself, my sister, and my girls... BLOOM, just bloom where you are planted! Right now we are planted in a place where peace, quite, integrity, and joy has to come from the inside, and you know... when you think of it, that is not really that far.... only we can get there. So yes, today the sky is blue, our garden is green, spring is forever, our house is beautiful, my girls are the best, I love my family, and we will bloom and bring color to life!Here is our afternoon of color and fun... and rainbows, bubbles and cats!!! and love!

Today we were "burning" another day at the parks, it was hot, but it was also fun since there were very short lines at the rides! So, unusual for us, we were moving at a pretty good pace! We stopped for water and the I turned around and saw Ale and Emi so concentrated looking at something, they looked peaceful and beautiful that had to capture that moment!

Hi! my name is Carolina Perisse de Rico, I am a stay at home architect with the biggest project ever... my girls! The oldest is 13, then I have an 11 year old, and now I am starting again with our three year old happiest toddler ever. Glad you are here, hope you stay a while!